could march.

To perform this duty with sufficient speed to avoid delaying the
advancing columns, sixty-four selected men, under First Lieut. James C.
Duane and Second Lieut. Edward P. Alexander, were taken from Company A,
United States Engineers, then stationed at the Military Academy at West
Point, N.Y. Leaving a detachment at West Point, the Company started on
this service March 31st, 1858, going by rail and steamboat as far as
Fort Leavenworth, Kans. Here it remained in barracks until fully
equipped to encounter the vicissitudes of the Western Plains. The march
to Utah, proper, was begun the 6th of May, 1858.

Narrative of the March

_May 6_ (Thursday). With bright anticipations of beholding many a novel
and interesting scene, and with high expectations of enjoying the new
and eventful life which was about to open before us, we left Fort
Leavenworth behind on the 6th day of May, 1858. Before us lay a long
march--twelve hundred miles, we were told--across a wild, and, except
for the first two hundred miles, a desert and uninhabited country.

Eight wagons, each drawn by six sturdy mules, drove up in front of our
quarters, and, after receiving their baggage, started for the first
camping ground at Salt Creek, a distance of about four miles. The
wagons were accompanied by a detachment to serve as escort and to pitch
the tents.

The remainder of the Company followed an hour or two later, in heavy
marching order. Except for the observance of discipline, and the order
of our marching, no one would have supposed us to be an organized
portion of the United States Army. We each wore a white felt hat and a
gray or blue woolen blouse, or hunting shirt. There were belt, bayonet,
haversack, canteen, pistol, a large clasp knife--all surmounted by
knapsack and rifle. To we Eastern soldiers this tout ensemble seemed
ludicrous enough.

We pitched our first camp, manifesting considerable delicacy about
taking our meals _al fresco_, and being very particular to select the
driest and softest spots on which to make our beds.

_May 7_ (Friday). Reveille was at an early hour. We stowed our cumbrous
knapsacks with the rest of the baggage in the wagons, and then set out
on our march with lighter bodies and gayer hearts. The day's journey
was only sixteen miles, but the roads were in poor condition from the
breaking up of winter, and to us, unaccustomed to continuous marching,
it seemed an endless distance. Several times durin